This invention relates generally to motor vehicle electrical systems, and is particularly directed toward a controller having a programmable matrix for correlating control of electric devices in a motor vehicle with switches of a switch module in an instrument panel of the vehicle.
An instrument panel of a motor vehicle contains electric switches for operating various devices in the vehicle. For any of various reasons, such as limitations on space available for the number of switches that are desired to be used in a particular instrument panel, it may be important to use switches that are relatively compact in package size. It may also be desirable to group the switches into modules, or clusters.
Instrument panel switch modules that have identical switch groupings, or clusters, but are designed for use in different vehicle models, may utilize switches that are in particular locations in the switch cluster in different ways depending on the particular vehicle model. A customer may desire that certain devices in a vehicle be controlled by switches in certain positions in a switch module.
The present invention relates to an electrical system of a motor vehicle that allows functions controlled by switches in a switch module to be correlated with the switches in a more efficient manner than by hard wiring of a device to a switch in the module. In this way many components of a switch module may be mass-produced so as to be potentially useful in any switch module. A switch module may be rendered unique to requirements of a particular vehicle model or requirements of a particular customer by particular indicia on a switch actuator and appropriate programming of a matrix in a controller that interfaces the switches in the module with the devices controlled by the switches.
In one respect the invention relates to a motor vehicle comprising a controller, a switch module containing multiple switch assemblies connected by wiring to the controller, and multiple devices connected by wiring to the controller. The controller comprises a programmed matrix correlating a switch input from each particular switch assembly in the module with a particular device to place each particular device under control of the corresponding switch assembly.
In another respect the invention relates to a method of electrically associating switch assemblies of a switch module in an instrument panel of a motor vehicle with devices in the vehicle through an electrical system of the vehicle that has a controller interfacing the switch module and the devices. The method comprises providing each switch assembly with indicia related to a respective device controlled by the switch assembly, disposing each switch assembly in a location in the module that is electrically connected to a particular input of the controller, and programming the controller with a matrix that correlates each input of the controller with a device that corresponds to the indicia for the respective switch assembly connected to the respective input.
The foregoing, along with further aspects, features, and advantages of the invention, will be seen in the following disclosure of a presently preferred embodiment of the invention depicting the best mode contemplated at this time for carrying out the invention. The disclosure includes drawings, briefly described as follows.